Bayne Set To Make 50th Career Sprint Cup Start

When Trevor Bayne takes the green flag on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, it will mark his 50th career Sprint Cup race, and all of them have come in the No. 21 Ford Fusion fielded by the famed Wood Brothers race team.

“That’s definitely the best of them,” Bayne said. “And if I get to 400 starts, that will still be the best.”

Team co-owner Eddie Wood said Bayne, now 23, has been a good fit for his family-owned team since making his Cup debut and his first run in the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion in the fall of 2010 at Texas Motor Speedway, where he finished a strong 17th.

“We’ve had a lot of good runs with Trevor,” Wood said. “It’s worked out well for both of us, especially with us running a part-time schedule and him having a full-time Nationwide Series ride with Roush Fenway Racing.”

Making the milestone start at Talladega suits Bayne just fine, even though he hasn’t had the success there that he’s had at other tracks. His best run there came in the spring of 2012, when he posted his 2nd top ten finish in just four races for that season, with an 8th place finish.

“Talladega hasn’t always been the best for me,” Bayne said. “I’m looking to redeem myself this biggest challenges this weekend is the new “knockout” style qualifying that will be used at a restrictor-plate track for the first time in the Sprint Cup Series.

“That will be a little nerve-wracking,” Bayne said, adding that, unlike the race, the most important thing is to be in a fast group but not necessarily at the front of the field, where he hopes to be when the checkered flag falls on Sunday afternoon.